#1: Prof. Gerald Robotnik went completely bald as a result of old age; Dr. Eggman however chooses to shave his head in imitation of his idolized grandfather. If Eggman allowed his hair to grow naturally he would have an enormous spiky mane to match his enormous mustache, hair the likes of which would put even Sonic to shame. Eggman Nega's baldness represents a similar situation.

#2: The Chaos Emeralds have similar stat-altering effects on Chao as Chaos Drives do, with different colored Emeralds changing different stats. Further, it is possible, but for whatever reason too difficult, to synthesize Chaos Drives in all seven colors of the Emeralds; the four colors we normally see are merely the easiest to create artificially.

#3: Each of the seven Chaos Emeralds is drawn to or favors a different Sonic character: the Blue Emerald favors Sonic, the Cyan Emerald favors Tails, the Red Emerald favors Knuckles, the Gray Emerald favors Dr. Eggman, the Purple Emerald favors Amy, the Green Emerald favors Shadow, and the Yellow Emerald favors Big the Cat.

#4: Originally, the seven Chaos Emeralds existed on their own. The Master Emerald was created later by some sage or divinity in order to keep their fantastic power under control, perhaps before the Old Shrine was constructed. Subsequently, the other stones of power like the Sol Emeralds and the Time Stones have no counterpart to the Master Emerald, as they are not as serious magnets for trouble as the Chaos Emeralds and the presence of a Controller was never needed.

#5: Espio became a ninja in order to curb his recklessness and learn discipline. The personality described in his Knuckles' Chaotix profile is what he was like before he took up the path of the shinobi, and perhaps he did so as a result of meeting the powerful but pacifistic Mighty the Armadillo or the short tempered but dutiful Master Emerald guardian.

#6: Dr. Eggman is Cream's father. This is why he abducted Vanilla in Sonic Advance 2, so as to catch up with his old flame and determine why she has been avoiding him. The small animals she was trapped with were merely an attempt to obfuscate his true intentions by making it look like her kidnapping was incidental.

#7: G.U.N. and the United Federation are only allies up to a point, as the military organization functions on an international level and largely autonomously. Rouge works for both sides, offering her talents to which ever party that can satisfy her lust for jewels or as suits her interests at a given time. Hence why in Sonic Adventure 2 she is shown gathering intelligence about G.U.N. on behalf of the President.

#8: The storybook world of Sonic and the Black Knight is based on a historical kingdom within Sonic's own world that came to be mythologized in literature over the ages. King Arthur was a real person, and is Sonic's ancestor. Of course, as is true of Arthurian legend in our world, the storybook Sonic adventured through deviates greatly from the life of his ancestor. For example, Caliburn probably doesn't exist in Sonic's world, but legends about such are sword are responsible for Claiburn's existence in the storybook dimension.

#9: Amy has no steady day job. She supports himself by using her skills with a dowsing rod to find gold and other valuables which she sells off for cash.

#10: Regardless of the actual canonicity of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, it's backstory regarding the war between the Echidnas and the creation of the Gizoid is still true.

#11: Fang the Sniper only has four fingers on each hand not because of Yakuza involvement as some have speculated, but rather because of inbreeding from his family's isolation in the Special Zone for generations.

#12: As with Head-Canon #8, the storybook world of the Arabian Nights is also based on historical events that been greatly mythologized. In this case, the Babylon Rogues inspired legends about genies in the nations they plundered for treasure, and the Babylon Garden itself inspired the Levitated Ruin.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
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#13: Sonic can't swim because the muscle density contained by his lean form causes him to sink in water regardless of any effort to hold his breath. The lung capacity allowed by his tiny torso isn't enough to float his sinewy limbs and weighty skull. This is to be expected given his incredible speed and strength; packing that much athleticism into such a small package requires dense muscles. The problem can be circumvented by using a floatation device, as seen in the Olypmic Games titles. Knuckles doesn't have this problem because, though much heavier, his thicker frame supports a bigger set of lungs that make up for buoyancy issues- hence Knuckles' ability to swim in most games.

#14: The artifacts left behind by ancient super civilizations like the Babylonians and the Nocturnus Clan account for the advanced technology seen in some parts of Sonic's world that are absent elsewhere. In places where the ruins of these empires were accessible to industrialized nations, scientists were able to reverse engineer the technology and make it available to the public. This is why Monopole has flying cars and flying skateboards and flying airships owned by people other than military super powers. Less explicable advances in modern life that lack a precident in ancient technology can be attributed to the inventions of geniuses like members of the Robotnik family and gifted individauls like Tails.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
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#15: The eighth Chaos Emerald featured in Sonic the Fighters is actually Tails' first successful artificial Emerald, his attempt to make up for the extreme amount of energy the Lunar Fox needed to achieve lift off. Sonic and Tails only had one real Emerald between them- Sonic's Blue Emerald- and the other competitors in the tournament all brought authentic Emeralds.

#16: The prototype airplane (P2a) Tails crashed at the beginning of Sonic Adventure was an attempt at creating a more practical application for harnessing the Chaos Emerald's energy than the Lunar Fox. It failed because the intense amounts of power drawn from the Emerald was too much for the machine to handle. The Tornado II (P2b) didn't have this problem because it could channel the overabundance of energy in it's jet mode. The Tornado III (P3a) was also fueled by Chaos energy, but Tails hoped this time to have a more economic power system that could use Rings and Chaos Drives in place of an Emerald. When he modified for the Tornado III for space flight purposes in Shadow the Hedgehog, he used the Cyan Emerald to provide additional power, showing some improvement over the Lunar Fox's enormous energy requirements.

#17: As the Tornado II and Tornado III were mainly exercises in applying Chaos Emeralds as a power supply, Tails doesn't pilot them very often, preferring to fly the original Tornado for sentimental reasons. After rebuilding the Tornado (now Tornado-1 or P1b) Tails further modified it to imitate the transforming feature of the Tornado II at some point before the events of Sonic Unleashed, most likely because he felt that both should be equally fast to be useful to Sonic's exploits. Including the Tornado III's Cyclone walker mode may have crossed his mind, but would have been dismissed as overkill.

#18: Cream is fluent in Chaoese. She learned to communicate with the Chao after discovering a natural Chao Garden near her home in Leaf Forest and spending time among them.

#19: Cream's Chao, Cheese and Chocola, were created in an experiment by her father Dr. Eggman. This is why Cheese never shows signs of getting older or evolving like normal Chao and explains how it can transform into look-alikes of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy when partnered with them in Sonic Advance 3. More significantly, it is because of their connection to the Doctor that Metal Sonic chose to seek out Chocola while trying to copy Chaos's data.

#20: Eggman is also responsible for creating the immortal character Chao resembling Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. They were inspired by the tendency of speed Chao to resemble his nemesis Sonic. These Chao are the final product of the experiment that created Cheese and Chocola; they were most likely separated from the Doctor during the Perfect Chaos debacle, and are now the in care of the Chao World facility.

#21: Giant Rings, such as those encountered at the end of stages in SA2, are in fact advanced teleportation devices employed by various groups to allow fast and easy travel around the world. They can be used in three ways: to make a one-way trip to any pre-determined location that is programmed into the Ring, to synch up with a transporter that 'catches' the traveler and brings them to a teleportation pad, and to access the Special Zone. Normally all Giant Rings act as portals to the Special Zone, but those in use by G.U.N., the Federation and other organizations have been reprogrammed to prevent anyone from going there. It still possible to enter the Special Zone this why by using special keys that bypass the redirection process, as seen in Sonic Heroes. Similarly it is possible to reach the Chao World Lobby transporter from any Giant Ring on the planet using the keys found in Chao crates. Special Rings, which glow with the seven colors of the Chaos Emeralds, were created by the Knuckles Clan to allow guardians to access the Maser Emerald chamber in the Hidden Palace; despite the efforts of Dr. Eggman and others no one has been able to replicate these particular Rings.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
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A few of my own:
Like Knuckles, Tails is the last(or at least only known) survivor) of a once great civilization. Unlike the Knuckles tribe of Angel Island, whose warrior culture ultimately lead to their demise in ancient times, the Kitsune Tibe(for lack of a better name) of Westside Island were more scholarly and only recently fell when Eggman invaded their home. The Aquatic Ruins is all that remains of their Capital City of Aqua Relix after the Doctor wiped out the Tribe for refusing to share their knowledge on the Chaos Emeralds. Tails survived the massacre mainly because he was away from the city at the time, and the loss of his home and people is a major part of his initial vow to help Sonic stop Eggman's evil schemes.

The Chaos drives were the result of attempts to mass produce artificial Chaos Emeralds. Through far too unstable to make anything approaching the usable energy capacity of the real thing, they did prove to be an economic alternative to Carbon Fuels and Nuclear batteries and produce few harmful emissions and can still provide a practically unlimited energy supply for electonics and infantry-grade energy weapons, hence why GUN uses them as the power source for most of their equipment.

Just so you know, I am blind.

Those who approach life like a child playing a game, moving and pushing pieces, possess the power of kings.

^The second hypothesis sounds correct, but while the first could be possible it doesn't sound like it fits the situation in Sonic 2 very well. Westside Island had a once mighty civilization, but the manual states it died out long before modern times, and the condition of the ruins seen in the game would imply as much. Further more, Tails' behavior around Dr. Eggman never really seemed all that hostile; most of the time they are fairly civil towards each other. If Dr. Eggman wiped out the fox's kindred, wouldn't Tails be more angery with him? It's still ambiguous since the manual, profiles, and flashbacks to SEGAverse Tails' history usually only focus on his first meeting with Sonic.

An alternative origin for Tails is suggested in the Game Gear title Tails Adventure however. Explicitly occuring before Tails met Sonic, here he is shown to have lived on Cocoa Island prior to Sonic 2, and just like every other island in the series Cocoa is full of ancient ruins and has a connection to the Chaos Emeralds. In this game however the invading evil isn't Dr. Eggman, but the Battle Kuku Army, an empire of fascist birds who pilot mecha and blow things up. Now, as in the case of Sonic 2, nothing indicates this attack is responsible for destroying the civlization on the island or killing Tails' family. However, over the course of the story it comes to light this invasion isn't the Battle Kuku's first expedition to Cocoa- long before the events of Tails Adventure they had established a hidden base, an enormous fortress floating in the sea that masquerades as a neighboring island for most of the game. I propose that when the Battle Kuku Army constructed this fake island, they were in the process of destroying the original inhabitants of Cocoa, of whom Tails is the last survivor. We don't get a good indication of Tails' feelings towards the Battle Kuku, but he does use lethal force to take them down, which isn't something he has ever used against Eggman.

I'll adopt Jeff's hypothesis about the Chaos Drives as Head-Canon #22.
I offer the alternative explanation of Tails' people on Cocoa Island being wiped out by the Battle Kuku Army as Head-Canon #23.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

Yeah, when you put it that way, it does sound like bad fanfiction that only works if you exclude pretty much everything Post-SA. Plus, wiping out an entire civilization sounds like something one of the US-written Dr. Robotnik's would do rather than any of the Japanese written Dr. Eggmans. Probably good reason that posting it here is the first time in over a decade I've given serious thought to the idea.

Speaking of how light hearted Sega Eggman is compared to say, SatAM Robotnik, The original Archie Robotnik, and SU Robotnik:
Part of the reason Sonic allows Eggman's continued existence is that, while the Doctor's schemes tend to cause a lot of mayhem, seldom has the Doctor ever caused serious permanent Damage outside of failed attempts at controlling eldritch abominations, and he doesn't Blame Eggman for unleashing such horrors because most would've been omnicidal even without the Doctor's manipulations and could just as easily been unleashed by someone else. Another major part is that life would be boring if Sonic permanently neutralized his only consistent opponent who is threatening enough to be a fun challenge, yet harmless enough to not force Sonic's hand. In other words, Sonic views his battles against Eggman as a largescale, high stakes of Cops and Robbers and saves the lethal force for the true monsters.

Just so you know, I am blind.

Those who approach life like a child playing a game, moving and pushing pieces, possess the power of kings.

#24: Fang the Sniper's airbike, the Marvelous Queen, is an Extreme Gear like those used by his fellow outlaws the Babylon Rogues. See one of my previous theories for an expansion on the idea of Fang being connected to the Babylon Rogues.

#25: The Super Flickies that appear when Tails transforms with the Super Emeralds are a smaller scale version of Sonic's ability to power up other characters as shown in Sonic Heroes and Next Gen. The reason they appear is because Tails himself is not physically capable of transforming into a state like Hyper Sonic or Hyper Knuckles, and needs the Flickies to help shoulder the burden of absorbing that much power; in theory Hyper Sonic and Hyper Knuckles could also summon Super Flickies at the expense of regressing into their Super forms.

#26: Oh, I should probably add that the Super Emeralds are canon and not just a bonus feature from S3&K. The seven Chaos Emeralds become the Super Emeralds when they are placed on top of the pillars surrounding the Master Emerald altar. This is seen more recently in Tikal's flashbacks in Sonic Adventure and when the Emeralds are transported to Cannon's Core in SA2. Sonic and Knuckles can use the Super Emeralds achieve their Hyper forms, but only independently; if two characters try to use the Super Emeralds at the same time, the result is two Super forms.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
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#27: Amy's Piko Piko Hammer is an empathic weapon that can change size and shape at the will of the user. When Amy puts it away into 'hammer space' she's actually just shrinking it down to a more portable form. When other individuals wield the hammer it transforms to suit their personality- for example when Knuckles is partnered with Amy in Sonic Advance 3, his Piko Piko Hammer is red and green instead of the usual colors, and in the place of the hearts that appear when Amy swings it are bursts of fire. Likewise, if Amy were to turn evil or something of that nature her hammer would change to fit her new alignment. It's possible the weapon's true form isn't even a hammer.

#28: Tails has his own solution for carrying around gadgets- he can instantly teleport items from his lab to his person. In Sonic Battle most characters can pull objects out of thin air, mainly explosives for their trap moves, but Tails causes his arm cannon, extendable boxing glove, Chu2 bombs, etc. to manifest in flashes of red light. The mechanism for the teleporter is most likely in his gloves or his bracelets, allowing for quick access to any of inventions at the flick of the wrist.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

#29: My identification for the "Four Great Civilizations"
I'll expand on this a bit and suggest a full list of 'Six Great Civilizations':
1- The Little Planet civilization
2- "Atlantis"/The Flicky's Island civilization
3- The Knuckles Clan empire under Pachacamac
4- The Nocturnus Clan
5- The Knuckles Clan civilization on the Floating Island
6- The Babylon Garden civilization
The Gaia Temple builders are probably identical with 1 or 2 since those groups are the oldest. The Precursors mentioned in the backstory of Sonic Chronnicles might be indentified with the Little Planet civilization.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

#30: Knuckles actually carries the Master Emerald around with him when he's away from Angel Island. Recall in SA2 the Master Emerald can shrink down to the size of a regular Chaos Emerald for ease of transport.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

Ivogoji wrote:Omochao was created by the agency that operates the Chao World facility to track down lost Chao and collect surveillance data about the environments they inhabit (hence all the helpful advice they dish out). You can find them in so many farflung places because they use Chao World's transporter to warp to any location lost Chao might be. We don't see them in SA because there are no lost Chao in that game.

Very nearly let this one slip my mind.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

this is entirely unrelated to any other headcanons in the thread but, i've always thought that NiGHTS and sonic kind of exist parallel to each other in the same way that futurama and the simpsons do - i.e. in sonic's world, NiGHTS is a video game/media franchise and in NiGHTS' world, sonic is the same

#32: The human characters of the NiGHTS games are from Sonic's world. So is Wizeman, in a way; he is actually an entity related to Illumina, the Goddess of Dreams, who created Nightopia to escape from her dimension and have his domain to rule over.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

Characters higher in a tier can deal with characters lower in a tier just above them, but usually not anyone at the top (without help). For example, Shadow is definitely stronger than Omega, but in a one-on-one fight their odds would still be about even.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

In the course of his studying the Chaos Emeralds, Prof. Gerald Robotnik deduced that the gems were not composed of the same matter that makes up most of the universe, but a new, exotic form of matter that exhibited properties outside the realm of established laws of physics. This “Chaos Matter” as he dubbed it, was a crystalline formation that did not appear to have atoms, could not be melted when exposed to any degree of heat, and although breakable, was self-mending, so that pressing two shattered pieces together would instantly restore the substance to its original form. More mysterious still, the Chaos Emeralds emitted a form of radiation that did not register as alpha, beta, or gamma rays. These subatomic particles the Emeralds radiated phased harmlessly through all materials (including hundreds of pounds of lead) and could only be contained by generating magnetic force fields. Higher concentrations of the particle, induced by placing two Chaos Emeralds next to each other, produced photons in light spectrums corresponding to the color of the Chaos Emerald that emitted the radiation. Bringing several Chaos Emeralds together at once in room temperature had the effect of making them lose weight while retaining the same total mass, with the loss of meassured weight corresponding to the increase in radiation detected around the Emeralds. Placing all seven Chaos Emeralds together caused them to ignore gravity and rotate in the air. This effect was negated by lowering the temperature of the Emeralds, which also reduced the amount of radiation they emitted when placed in proximity to each other. Gerald Robotnik’s analysis of the particles was key to discovering a process that could replicate the formation of Chaos Emeralds. Because of Prof. Robotnik’s work on its theory and application, it was named the Robotnik Particle (Gerald himself simply called the radiation generated by the Emerald’s “Chaos energy”, which remains the colloquial term for the power source). The discovery of the robotnik particle revolusionized physics and engineering in unprecedented ways. Trying to decipher how the robotnik particles phased through solid matter, Gerald exposed various substances to high concentrations of Chaos energy and observed the effect it had on each material. He concluded that the robotnik particle caused the matter in other objects to briefly fold into another dimension, a subspace between worlds where the atoms in an object exposed to Chaos energy flitted into before returning to its proper dimension. From this Prof. Robotnik was able to determine that robotnik particles exist in both dimensions at once. Each robotnik particle exists in a pair, rotating around an invisible axis called the torsion field. As one particle passes through normal space, the other passes through subspace, dragging along any matter it encounters into the parallel dimension for an infintismal fraction of time. Experiments demonstrated that matter in the subspace dimension was not subject to inertia, friction, gravity, or most other forces present in space-time. The ability of Chaos energy to warp space-time was considered unique, except for one similar form of energy- the kind produced by Golden Rings. Rings had long been a mystery to science, as their curious properties made it difficult to examine them in a laboratory setting- touching a Ring caused it to absorb into the object it made contact with, and applying force to an object that had absorbed Rings would cause it to disperse those Rings, which vanished afterwards. The only thing that could be said with certainty about Rings was they did not obey the laws of the conservation of mass or energy. This characteristic caused Gerald to speculate that Rings were composed of robotnik particles, and their vanishing was a result of them entering subspace. To test his hypothesis, Prof. Robotnik exposed a quantity of Rings to the Chaos Emeralds when they were in an excited state and radiating large amounts of Chaos energy. The result was completely unexpected: the Rings dissolved and crystallized into tiny slivers that resembled Chaos Emerald shards. To explain the phenomenon, Gerald theorized that the robotnik particles in Rings rotated in the opposite direction of the robotnik particles in Chaos energy; Chaos particles rotated clockwise, Ring particles rotated counterclockwise. The crystalization of the Rings into Chaos Matter was attributed to the opposing directions of the robotnik particle’s rotations canceling each other out, reducing the collided robotnik particles to an inert state where they were no longer phasing into the subspace dimension. He further theorized that the substance the Rings were composed of (coining the term “Ring Matter”) consisted of bonded pairs of robotnik particles that, while still rotating, had neutralized thier space-time warping properties until an outside force destablized the bond to cause the robotnik particles to diffuse back into subspace (although mutliple Rings could be merged together to form Giant Rings, which were unstable enough on their own to be constantly sheding robotnik particles before eventually breaking back down into regular Rings). The bond between one pair of robotnik particles was simpler and weaker than the complex crystalline structures formed by Chaos energy/Ring energy reactions, causing Ring Matter to be significantly less stable than Chaos Matter. These crystals became the central component of Chaos Drives, batteries designed by Prof. Robotnik to use shards of artifical Chaos Emerald as a power source. Synthesizing Chaos Emeralds opened up a world of possibilities, as they could be mass produced to serve as clean and renewable energy. However, it was apparent that Chaos Drives only possessed a fraction of the energy within the Chaos Emeralds. Robotnik particles decay from Chaos Matter the same way radiation decays in radioactive isotopes. A Chaos Drive has a half life over 70 years, but Chaos Emeralds display no actual ‘decay’ as it were, endlessly mending themselves everytime some of thier mass was shed. As such, the Chaos Emeralds potentially possessed infinite energy, a phenomenon that could not be explained by scientific means. The unique physics of the robotnik particle were systemized as Torsion Field Theory, encompassing how science understood the relationships between robotnik particles, normal matter, chaos matter, ring matter, and the subspace dimension. Torsion Field physics is the basis of anti-gravity technology, artificial gravity, faster than light travel, teleporter/transporter technology, and Chaos Drive powered machinery in the modern world.

Anti-Rings are Rings made up of Chaos energy instead of Ring energy, and their robotnik particle spin is clockwise. Physically, they are not distinguishable from normal Rings, but they cannot be crystallized into Chaos Matter by exposing them to Chaos energy. Instead, it is necessary to expose them to Ring energy, which has the same effect as the usual process for creating Chaos Drives but produces crystals with slightly different properties.

Both regular Rings and Anti-Rings are used in the synthesis of Ring Matter constructs (contrary to popular belief, Ring Matter does not explode when exposed to Anti-Ring Matter; such a reaction would require a hypothetical “anti-robotnik particle”). Since Rings destabilize under the slightest amount of kinetic force, the only way of fusing Rings together is through magnetism. With electromagnets it’s possible to force Ring Matter into retaining it’s shape and solidness, which a Ringcrafter can then manipulate into a desired form. Various commercial products have been made from Ring Matter, such as Sonic’s Lightspeed Shoes.

Chaos Control and the Advanced Non-Concussive Cobalt Effect are both properties of robotnik particles interacting with space-time.

Chaos Control is what happens when an object being shifted into the Special Zone (subspace) by Chaos energy gets interrupted. Normally, as robotnik particles phase in and out of the Special Zone, the matter they drag along with them is quickly deposited back into realspace. This is because a robotnik particle’s rate of spin is constant, and matter in realspace is too slow to follow the movement within the particle’s torsion field. However, if something causes the rate of spin to slow down, the matter temporarily becomes trapped within the torsion field. This causes the realspace matter to take on the same properties as the type of robotnik particle it’s exposed to.

Matter exposed to Ring energy, for example, is known to take on the same properties as Rings. This includes phasing in-and-out of subspace when exposed to traumatic amounts of kinetic force. However, if the Ring energy’s spin slows down enough, the realspace matter can phase completely into the subspace dimension (a process colloquielly refered to as “Ring Control”). If the matter is cut off from a source of Ring energy, Ring Control is usually reversed, as any foreign object in the Special Zone is ejected by the dimension’s unusual energy fields. The most common cause of Ring Control is exposure to the energy of a Giant Ring; the intense density of the many Rings concentrated into a Giant Ring cause the spin of the robotnik particles it generates to slow down.

Matter exposed to Chaos energy with reduced spin behaves slightly differently. In extreme cases the result is similar to Ring Control, as the matter in an object is completely phased into the Special Zone. Usually what actually happens is that the object is suspended between both dimensions. There are different “degrees of phase” between regular Chaos energy exposure and what happens when a full Chaos Control takes place, caused by different rates of spin. A low degree of phase causes an object to take on properties similar to an inert Chaos Emerald or Chaos Drive- reduced weight or weightlessness, photon emission, and other harmless side effects. This is the Antigravity Threshold. A higher degree of phase causes an object to take on properties closer to unstable Chaos energy, such as passing through solid objects (do to having less mass in realspace) and accelerating in any direction without inertia (this leads to so called “teleportation”, or the perceived instantaneous movement of an object from one location to another). This is known as the Warp Threshold. To an observer experiencing warp, it would appear that time had stopped and everything around them was frozen in place. At the highest degree of phase the object breaks the barrier between subspace and realspace, briefly creating a rip in the fabric of space-time. This is the Transdimensional Threshold. In short, an object subjected to robotnik particle radiation gradually becomes invisible to realspace physics as it phases into the subspace dimension, until finally it leaves realspace altogether.

Chaos Spear is the result of colliding Ring energy with Chaos energy in small doses, creating Chaos matter in a diffuse plasma state that burns extremely hot. Chaos Blast is a related phenomenon. Chaos Sphere- the creation of a concentrated point of robotnik particles- has the effect of localizing the properties of Chaos Control on a particular area of space outside the source of the Chaos energy.

Chaos energy’s effects on realspace matter are negated by Ring energy. Balancing the effect of the two energies on a realspace object would make it possible to transform that object into something with properties identical to an actual Chaos Emerald. Such a process would give the realspace matter object physical features similar to Chaos matter crystallization, such as luminescence or a metallic shine. However, a balance like this could only be maintained for a short period of time before the robotnik particles destablized and scattered, reverting the transformation.

The Advanced Non-Concussive Cobalt Effect is a phenomenon that occurs when an object exposed to robotnik particles of either spin accelerates beyond the speed of light. Because robotnik particles remove the mass of an object in realspace and weaken the hold of realspace physics on that object, the usual limitations on motion in realspace begin to break down. This allows the object to reach speeds surpassing the speed of light. It also dampens the effect of interia so the high speed object does not experience G-force. With Ring energy the Cobalt Effect is normally what happens at any level of particle exposure preceeding the subspace jump. When using Chaos energy, the degree of phase at which the phenomenon occurs is between the Warp Threshold and the Transdimensional Threshold. At this point, the robotnik particles begin to interact with tachyons, causing a doppler-shift where the radiation emitted by the tachyons is visible as blue light- hence the name. Objects that are subject to the Cobalt Effect occasionally take on a blue coloration.

Names suggested for the crystalline form of Chaos matter include Chaosite, Echidnium, or Angel-emerald. These names are not generally used in scientific treatise as it is recognized that Chaos matter is an exotic material that shouldn’t be confused with the elements native to this dimension. In the same vein, the common term for Ring matter is Goldring. Among human cultures Rings are sometimes called “Leprachaun’s gold” or “Fairy-gold” because of their tendency to vanish when touched, recalling tales of Leprachauns giving travelers gold coins that turn into leaves when no one is looking. In some parts of the world Rings are used as a form of currency, a trend that goes back to ancient times, but only became practical after the invention of magnetic storage capsules fifty years ago. Rings are common as grass however and it takes thousands of them even to purchasing mundane items. People who are unemployed and gather Rings to support themselves are considered low status.

Robotnik particles are invisible, intangible, and non-interactive to matter in realspace. The only force that exerts any detectable influence over them is electromagnetism. When Rings materialize in nature it is the result of small fluctuations in the planet’s electromagenetic field. Chaos matter crystalline growths are rarely seen outside of an artificial setting, but have been known to occur in locations with unique electromagnetic properties, such as Angel Island.

The activity of ions in the brain of a living thing can also influence Chaos energy- including slowing down particle spin. For example, an extreme emotional state can trigger a reaction in the Chaos Emeralds. Possibly this is the origin of the ancient concept that “Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart”. However, these simple electric impulses are usually too feeble to have a noticible effect on robotnik particles. A special electro-organ would be necessary for a life form to detect and manipulate Chaos energy with anything approaching what is necessary to induce Chaos Control. In most cases, Chaos energy can only be controlled by machines.

The Chaos Rings are probably Anti-Rings converted into Chaos matter. Since Anti-Rings exist, Anti-Chaos Emeralds might also exist. The Master Emerald or the Sol Emeralds could be like this. The Time Stones are also some form of exotic matter with a crystalline structure similar to Chaos Emeralds.

Chaos energy and Ring energy seem to interact with gravity differently because of their different particle spins. Possibly the clockwise-spinning Chaos energy particles somehow ‘climb up’ the fabric of space bent by gravity wells, while the counterclockwise-spinning Rings wind down with the flow of gravity. Artificial gravity generators have been created harnessing robotnik particles and are a prominent feature aboard the Space Colony ARK.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

There is even less sense around the...mechanics of how chao reproduce. I obviously use that term loosely. All they do is rub their cute little faces together until the power of love spawns an egg. Not much logic in that. Here's my idea of how chao would actually breed.

In my interpretation, chao have no sex organs. I say this because that's just wrong and gross. Therefore, chao do not reproduce sexually. They reproduce by much more innocent means: pollination.

I'll start off with an explanation. Chao have what you could call "spores" in their faces, much like the scent glands of cats. Kind of like human sperm and egg cells, when these spores unite, there is a reaction. However, there is a major difference here. All spores are the same, so any two genders can mate together; two males, two females, or a male and a female. Which genders mate doesn't make a difference. The only reason chao don't produce eggs with their selves is because an egg can't form from a group of spores with identical genes...and there's some other science behind it that I'll explain next.

Before I go into the process, let me elaborate on these spores. These spores are made up of cells that contain the data for a new chao. When united, they develop an embryo. Most of the time, these cells are dormant. Mating season is a time in a chao's life during which they are active, able to produce eggs. The cells also contain some metals. We all know that metal expands as temperature increases (and if you didn't, now you do), so pay attention.

1: Two chao, both ready to mate, rub their faces together.

2: The friction caused by this action creates heat; enough to expand the spores. They branch out and link. Shortly a visible cluster is formed.

3: Chao separate. The cluster falls to the ground. It is too delicate to touch, so chao immediately make a mark by it and guard the area staunchly. A protective membrane quickly forms around the cluster.

4: The egg does not actually appear instantly. Over a period of several days, the cells rapidly fuse together and grow.

STAGES OF EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT

1: Cells are fusing together inside the membrane. All germs are blocked out but it is too weak to hold an embryo just yet.

2: Membrane has periodically thickened and is translucent; zygote can barely be seen in the center.

3: Hard outer shell is near formed. Egg is the size of a large bowling ball. Zygote is beginning to develop into a living child.

4: Egg shell is complete, egg is the size of a watermelon. Embryo is growing and the beginning of sentient life is drawing near.

5: Hatched hatchling is hatched!

Make sense now?

P.S.: Regarding chao genders...there is a difference between sex and gender. Sex is your biological structure that determines whether or not you can bear children or...spit them out. Gender is what you identify as.
Chao have no sex, but their behavior and appearance differ depending on their gender.

In geometry class today, I was doodling a chao skull in the back of my workbook when I had the awesome idea to brainstorm how these guys really work. They're anatomically incorrect...by human standards, anyway. I'm a massive science junkie, so I decided to make them correct.

The image I have posted here contains my theory on how the chao body works. I'm gonna type out the text because it's hard to see it in the picture.

HOW THE F*** DO THESE THINGS WORK

First off, chao are delicate creatures. If they didn't have the defense mechanisms in their bodies, they'd be incredibly easy to injure and infect. Let's go over this.

Chao have a pudding-y outer texture, correct? Their insides are fragile and their immune system is weak. They need plenty of protection against falls, cuts etc. I theorize a gelatinous layer of soft tissue that lies above the fat and muscle, just under the skin. This thick mass acts as a cushion that absorbs shock and greatly decreases the chance of infection.

Now on to ears and nose...holes. You may notice that they don't exist on a chao. In my opinion, they do. Since chao's immune systems are weak, any orifice they have that cannot be closed is shielded. Over where the holes in the skull are for ears and otherwise, the layer of tissue thins and is slightly expanded. The slight expansion creates tiny holes, like pores, in the skin and tissue itself. These holes are actually microscopic tubes down which sound travels smoothly; hearing is normal.

Chao have fingers. The bones are short and thick. They barely protrude from the skin when in use, but the reason they can still hold things is because they're so squishy...whatever they're holding kind of sinks into the skin.

Now the feet! Three fat toes, work the same way the fingers do; usually hidden, protrude when they're being used to a relatively great extent. Chao don't necessarily have legs. What they have is a ball at the top of the foot and base of either side of the pelvis, connected by joints. The foot pivots on this. The foot can be bent so that a "knee" forms from this ball.

The wings are simple and are much like that of a pteranodon or rhamphorynchus. Linked bones create the outer frame of the wing, and then the skin is stretched taut across these bones. The rest is a no-brainer

Jeffery Mewtamer wrote:I like Mayo's idea of Chao reproducing via spores that are released when they rub their faces against each other.

As for their physical anatomy, while Chao are bipedal(a trait usually exclusive to vertebrates), I think that Chao might actually be invertebrate, and might lack anything resembling a proper skeleton. Given their ability to fly despite having tiny insect-like wings, they likely have a very small body weight and are possibly supported by internal air sacs. Given their semi-aquatic nature, it is possible that their skin(which is likely hairless, though possibly scaly) serves as a respiratory membrane, allowing them to absorb oxygen from both the air and water. Of course, this would require that their skin be constantly moist if not augmented with internal lungs. Rather than manipulatable digits on their hands and feet, the likely have a gripping ability similar to that of the Gecko, which would also explain their talent for climbing sheer cliffs.

Now most interesting about Chao is that they have the ability to absorb DNA from other lifeforms and recombine it with their own. When they grab hold of a small animal, their gecko grip would scrape of a few layers of skin cells from the small animal. These cells would then be absorbed through the Chao's skin, where the Chao's immune system would attempt to either destroy or assimilate the invading cells. Depending on where the Chao's bloodstream takes the absorbed genetic material, it fuses to cells in the local tissues and triggers the mutations that cause the appearance of animal parts. A Chao's reproductive organs are isolated from these effects by something similar to the blood-brain barrier that exists in humans and other species with complex nervous system, ensuring that the mutations caused by this process do not interfere with the Chao's fertility. The recombinant Chao-animal DNA also triggers the varies switches that affect a Chao's growth and metamorphosis.

Speaking of metamorphosis, when a Chao enters its Blue Cocoon, the mechanisms that control what will be as an adult analyzes the cumulative DNA recombination the Chao underwent during childhood, and the results triggering a permanent mutation in the Chao's own, unrecombined genetic code: The inheritable stat rank boost.

Also, since it can be assumed that the whole 3 Hours Real-Time = 1 Year Chao-Time was done to make for an interesting game, I think it safe to assume that other biological events were also sped up, though not necessarily by the same factor. By the way, at the same factor 1 Minute Real-Time = 2 days, 40 minutes Chao-Time, so using the same factor(2920) might still leave the gestation and metamorphosis times too short to be realistic.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

#36: As an extension of headcanon #34, because of the property of Robotnik particles to displace the mass of objects in a parallel dimension, Sonic is able to reach the speed of light without encountering the infinite mass/infinite force problem. Sonic's mass would stay the same no matter how fast he moved, and since other barriers like inertia are also weakened by the mass displacement he would need less force to accomplish those speeds.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

In Sonic Advance 3, Eggman used Chaos Control to split the world into 7 pieces (as the manual states, not the game itself). However, when he did this he did not open the planet itself,
just rearranged it for ease of conquest, which is why Dark Gaia didn't come out until he actually disconnected the parts in Unleashed.

#37: The Seven Gaia Temples were the original homes of the seven Chaos Emeralds in the distant past, each protected by a separate Guardian. Eventually the Master Emerald was found/created and the Guardians brought all the Emeralds together to the Master Emerald Shrine. Chaos was created in order to protect all of the gems and serve as an immortal, 'perfect' Guardian who would never abandon his post.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

#38: Most of the Sonic characters are multilingual.
Sonic and Tails having picked up a variety of languages from traveling the world.
Knuckles from an unseen education as Guardian of the ME, which included learning both modern and ancient tongues.
Eggman from his multicultural background (if my interpretation of the Robotnik family's origins is correct) plus traveling a lot throughout his life laying the foundations for his robot empire.
Amy possibly picked some up from following Sonic around for years.
Rouge from her training in international espionage.
Sundry other characters from similar circumstances.

Thus answering the question "Does Sonic speak Japanese or English?" He speaks both, and numerous other languages from all over the globe; the conversations we see in-game are only translated into our own language for the sake of convenience.

Another idea I've kicked around to resolve this issue is the theory that everyone on Sonic's world speaks a single universal language, imposed on all races when the Echidna empires ruled the Earth, since all the ancient Echidnas we encounter have no problem conversing with modern people. This would also account for Knuckles being able to speak Sonic's language despite a life time of isolation. The problem with this idea is that SEGA definitely conceptualizes the world as having multiple languages and if they haven't directly contradicted the possibility of a common language in the games they'll probably do it in the future.

NachoThePikachu wrote:I WILL BE AN ADMINISTRATOR, RULING OVER CHAO ISLAND
except it WON'T BE CHAO ISLAND ANYMORE
IT'LL BE BANANA ISLAnD

^That makes a lot of sense and lines up well with the prevalence of multilingualism in real life. While most Americans are monoglots(and a disturbing fraction is actually proud of such linguistic shortcomings), it is my understanding that monoglots are the minority globally speaking, and that it isn't uncommon for the well-educated to be fluent in not only their native tongue, but in the native tongue of their nearest neighbors as well as a regional Lingua Franqua and English(if it isn't the regional lingua franqua).

Just so you know, I am blind.

Those who approach life like a child playing a game, moving and pushing pieces, possess the power of kings.